Boston’s pledge to become a carbon free city by 2050 will rely on significant emission reductions from buildings—the city’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions—where utility gas, fuel oil, and electricity together account for almost 70 percent of total emissions. Research has supported electrification (the transition away from fossil fuels in favor of electric heating and cooling) as a critical step for building emission reductions, and although the city has begun to address this sector with a transition plan for all large buildings (>=35,000 square feet), there is no explicit plan for building electrification. Rather, Boston’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) calls for emission reductions from retrofitting and renewable energy investments including biofuels and hydrogen.
In July of 2021, Boston’s Air Pollution Control Commission passed a series of amendments to the Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) setting the CAP’s decarbonization plan into motion. These amendments allow the city to track emissions from large buildings, which make up nearly half of the city’s total emissions, while also investing in equitable clean energy technology that prioritizes underserved communities. Moving forward, the city will use data collected from the BERDO amendments to develop a decarbonization program, meaning that Boston’s building decarbonization strategy is dependent on their findings in the coming years.
Large buildings are the focus of the city’s decarbonization strategy because of their disproportionate contribution to the city’s emissions, but research on small building electrification could serve as a promising example for Boston’s strategy for all buildings moving forward. Rocky Mountain Institute released an analysis on new single-family homes in Boston in which they compare the costs of all-electric versus mixed-fuel appliances and heating in new construction projects. They found an average Boston home could save nearly $1,600 in utility bills and 51 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over a 15-year period.
Electrification is an effective and affordable decarbonization strategy. Building electrification is not currently being emphasized by Boston city planners despite research that supports its cost effectiveness but a least-cost decarbonization plan for Boston requires this cost-effect option.
